  
His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa,
Ogyen Trinley Dorje, was born to nomadic parents in 1985 in the Lhathok
region of Tibet. The parents, who had many daughters and one son, wanted
to have another boy. They were told by the yogi abbot of Kalek, a Karma
Kagyu monastery, that they might have a son but if they did they must
place him at Kalek monastery. They agreed and a short time later they
had a son.
The boy was called "Apo Gaga," which means "happy brother," a nickname
given to him by his older sister. Apo Gaga spent four years at Kalek monastery,
where he received a special education and was treated as an unrecognized
reincarnate lama. During this period, he also spent some time with his
parents.
In 1992, he suggested to his parents that they
move their camp early. This decision to move placed them in the spot where
the predictive letter written by the Sixteenth
Karmapa had said the Seventeenth Karmapa would be found. Apo Gaga
told his parents his monks were coming for him, and packed his things.
Miraculous events and signs that occurred during the pregnancy and birth
of Apo Gaga--the locale in which he was living matching exactly the place
described by the prediction letter left to Tai
Situ Rinpoche by the Sixteenth Karmapa; the names of the parents,
also in the prediction letter; the appearance and manners of the young
boy himself--all led the monks from Tsurphu to determine that this boy,
born to nomads, was the Seventeenth Karmapa. His Eminence Tai Situpa and
His Holiness the Dalai Lama confirmed the identification. After a short
time spent at Kalek, preparations were made for the journey to Tsurphu.
Before the party left, three suns appeared in the sky and were seen by
many hundreds of people in the surrounding area.
On September 27 of the same year, the Chinese government
officially allowed the recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the seventeenth
incarnation of the Karmapa. This was the first time the Communist government
allowed the recognition of any reincarnate lama. The hair-cutting and
naming ceremony was held in Lhasa's famous Jokhang Temple. It was only
the second time that a Karmapa had received this ordination there.
The enthronement was held at Tsurphu Monastery that day, September 27,
1992, where over 20,000 pilgrims assembled. His Holiness concluded the
enthronement by giving his personal blessings to the crowd that completely
surrounded the monastery. The enthusiasm and overwhelming numbers of people
trying to enter the monastery forced the blessing to be continued into
the following day. That following morning, 25,000 people filed before
His Holiness to receive his personal blessings. The following day the
Seventeenth Karmapa bestowed his first formal empowerment, of Red Chenrezig,
from a monastery rooftop.
From his arrival at Tsurphu in 1992, His Holiness was involved primarily
in dharma studies. This early education began under the direction of His
Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche; His
Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche; and the abbot of Tsurphu, the late
Drupon Dechen Rinpoche. Umdze Tubten Zangpo, who served the Sixteenth
Karmapa at Tsurphu and Rumtek monasteries, was His Holiness's reading
tutor until Umdze's death in 1997. Other learned monks and lamas, including
Lama Nyima, continued to tutor His Holiness.
In 1994, His Holiness made visits to major sacred
sites in central Tibet, including the Jokhang Temple and the Potala, and
Tashilhunpo, Drepung, Sera, and Ganden monasteries, where he said prayers
and made offerings. Shortly after returning to Tsurphu he departed on
a formal visit to Beijing at the invitation of the government of the People's
Republic of China.
During his stay in Beijing, he met with numerous officials and was formerly
introduced to President Jiang Zemin and Chairman Li Peng. The Karmapa
attended events commemorating the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding
of the government of the People's Republic of China, during which he was
excited to see his first fireworks display. He made pilgrimages to the
famous shrine of the Buddha's tooth relic outside Beijing, and also to
Wutai Shan (the Five Sacred Mountains of Manjushri) where the Third
Karmapa, Ranjung Dorje, had given teachings over six hundred years
earlier. His tour continued with a first visit to the seashore and stops
in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Chengdu before returning to Tibet. This trip
provided His Holiness with a first-hand view of contemporary urban life
in China as well as modern transport and technology.
Once he was back at Tsurphu, the Karmapa continued his studies of Buddhadharma
including philosophy, debating, ritual practices, and sacred dance. Each
day at 1:00 in the afternoon he would receive visitors--pilgrims from
throughout Tibet and around the world--and offer his blessings. On special
festival days when large throngs of pilgrims would make the trek to Tsurphu,
His Holiness would offer blessings individually to thousands of people
in a single day.
As he grew older, he began to bestow more empowerments and play the primary
role in various rituals at the monastery such as the annual Mahakala dances
leading up to Losar, the Tibetan New Year.
Beginning in 1994, His Holiness began to fulfill
his legacy of predicting and recognizing the rebirth of incarnate lamas,
or tulkus. The first such recognition was of Pawo Rinpoche, an important
Kagyu lama who had passed away in Nepal in 1991. The Karmapa wrote a prediction
letter specifying the details of the location and time of year of the
child's birth, as well as clues to the names of his parents and information
on the environment surrounding their home. After a search was conducted
based on this prediction letter, the young Pawo Rinpoche was discovered
in Tibet, and until 2001 resided at Nyenang Monastery near Tsurphu. He
has since been moved by the Chinese government to Lhasa.
In 1996, His Holiness wrote his next letter of prophecy for the rebirth
of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Again, the details in the letter, in addition
to a set of sketches and maps drawn by the Karmapa, provided all the requisite
signs and clues which led to the discovery of the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul,
then two years old. Today, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche lives at Pullahari
Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The Seventeenth Karmapa has gone on to predict, recognize, and confirm
the rebirth of other tulkus, including the young Dabzang Rinpoche who
now resides at his seat in Kham, eastern Tibet, and an incarnate lama
found outside of Tibet. Shelri Dolpo Rinpoche, a close disciple of the
Second and Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoches, was discovered in Nepal and
now lives with the young Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at Pullahari.
Much of the physical rebuilding of Tsurphu Monastery
and renewed dharma activity that continued what has historically taken
place there over the past 800 years flourished since the Seventeenth Karmapa
returned in 1992. Temples, shrines, stupas, a shedra, and residences were
rebuilt and filled again with offerings, statues, and paintings. The giant
Tsurphu thangkas were recreated and displayed on auspicious days, and
sacred lama dances that had not been practiced for decades were once again
performed in the main courtyard.
In 1999 His Holiness Karmapa made another trip to Beijing at the invitation
of government and religious officials of the People's Republic of China.
During this visit he attracted much attention from the news media and
was featured on Chinese television in a special program chronicling his
life and activities.
On January 1, 2000, as the Western calendar marked
a new millennium and Kagyu monasteries, nunneries, and dharma centers
around the world celebrated by offering prayers for world peace and for
the long life and flourishing of the Karmapa's buddha activity, His Holiness
began a new journey. Just a few days earlier, on December 28, the fourteen-year-old
Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, left Tolung Tsurphu
Monastery with a handful of attendants, and secretly escaped from Tibet.
On January 5, he arrived safely in Dharamsala, India where he was met
by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Since that time, His Holiness Karmapa has been living temporarily at
Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University near Dharamsala. At Gyuto, he has been
able to continue his studies in Buddhist philosophy and receive instructions,
transmissions, and empowerments of Karma Kagyu vajrayana practices from
masters of the lineage. His principal tutor has been Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche, eminent scholar of the Kagyu lineage.
While in India he has received thousands of visitors from throughout
the world, including religious leaders, politicians, film stars, and people
from all walks of life--Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike. Each week, His
Holiness offers public and private audiences at Gyuto and on occasion
bestows a public empowerment.
Since arriving in Dharamsala, the Karmapa has developed
a strong bond with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The two have had many
opportunities to meet and on one occasion in February, 2000, the Karmapa
gathered with other heads of the five schools of Tibetan Buddhism to honor
the sixtieth anniversary of the Dalai Lama's enthronement.
The Karmapa has been writing poetry characterized by scholars of the
lineage as unusually sophisticated and refined for someone of his age.
Several of his poems have been set to music by the internationally acclaimed
Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), which released a recording
of these songs titled Melody of Truth.
On February 2, 2001, Kalon Tashi Wangdi, Minister of Religion and Cultural
Affairs in the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government-in-Exile)
announced that the government of India had granted formal refugee status
to His Holiness Karmapa. This news was great cause for celebration among
the Karmapa's followers throughout the world as it paved the way for his
ability to begin to travel.
Shortly following the granting of his refugee status, His Holiness embarked
on a pilgrimage to some of the sacred Buddhist sites in India. He participated
in religious activities and celebrations during Losar in Sarnath (at Varanasi),
where Shakyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of dharma. The pilgrimage
also included a trip to Bodhgaya, the place of the Buddha's enlightenment.
After returning from Bodhgaya, His Holiness held his first press conference,
attended by members of the international media, to explain the details
of his escape from Tibet and reason for going to India. Since then, he
has made a pilgrimage to Ladakh, and in December presided over the Kagyu
Monlam at Bodhgaya.
In early 2002, His Holiness returned to Sarnath
for several weeks, where he stayed at the Vajravidya Institute. During
this time he joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Gaden Tri Rinpoche
before the sacred Dhamekha stupa where they offered prayers. The Karmapa
returned to his temporary residence at Gyuto Ramoche Temple near Dharamsla
in February in time for Losar celebrations, and to continue his ongoing
studies.
That spring, Time
Asia magazine named His Holiness Karmapa one of its Asian heroes,
an honor the magazine conferred on "individuals whose valiance inspires
us." His Holiness was designated a hero from Tibet, whose "daring escape
from China keeps hope alive for Tibetans."
In a formal ceremony on July 24, 2002, before hundreds of monks, His
Holiness Karmapa received his novice monastic ordination from His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, assisted by His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche. The occasion
was followed by several days of celebration at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University.
|
